‘Horrifying’ blaze kills 1, injures 7 in Surrey

Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver Sun01.03.2014

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Rosemary Williconi talks to media as the fire department are on the scene of a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze. Williconi's twin brother helped by pulling people out of the burning house.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department and RCMP on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

Fire department on scene at a two alarm fire at a house on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue in Surrey, January 2, 2014. At least one person is dead and several more injured in the early-morning blaze.Nick Procaylo
/ PNG

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METRO VANCOUVER -- Reeling from the shock of watching her twin brother pull their badly burned neighbours from a house fire in Surrey, Rosemary Willicome stood in the rain Thursday morning watching firefighters sift through the rubble.

“It’s horrifying, I can’t stop shaking,” the 23-year-old said, recalling the tragedy that unfolded hours earlier when a blaze destroyed the Fleetwood home on 146 A Street near 89th Avenue, killing one woman and sending seven people, including one small child, to hospital.

Two of the injured are in the burn unit with serious injuries at Vancouver General Hospital.

The Willicome siblings awoke at around 3 a.m. to the sound of screaming and ran outside to see flames lapping off the second floor of their neighbour’s house, which also served as a Khalsa daycare.

Rosemary’s brother Vincent rushed next door and helped move an elderly woman from the front door of the house and carry her to a waiting ambulance. The woman was unconscious and suffering from burns, with her clothes scorched.

The experience has left her brother traumatized, Willicome said. “The woman was badly burned, my brother said. Some of the people had scorch marks on their skin,” said Willicome, adding that Vincent was dealing with a lot of shock over what he witnessed, and was “at home just trying to keep calm.”

The house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and the body of an adult woman was later found inside.

The RCMP and coroner have been called in to help with the investigation. Cpl. Bert Paquet, a spokesman for Surrey RCMP, said investigators do not believe the fire was suspicious.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis said two smoke alarms were missing from the house and another two battery-powered alarms were disabled, leaving the family with no warning system.

Willicome said her brother saw some members of the family trying to crawl out the back of the house, while a couple of others jumped from a bedroom on the second floor.

“It’s so close to home ... The firefighters got here really quick and they put out the fire really fast, but, yes, I was worried that it might spread to our house,” said Willicome.

Nafisa Abdula, a spokeswoman for Fraser Health, said two patients were transferred to the burn unit at Vancouver General Hospital. Two have been released from hospital, and two others are in stable condition, one at Royal Columbian and the other at Surrey Memorial. Abdula did not have information on the seventh person.

At the scene early Thursday, investigators combed through the remains of the house. The walls on the second floor are burned out and many of the family’s possessions lay strewn on the lawn.

“There’s quite a lot of debris. So it’s going to be several hours before we know anything. The whole ceiling has come down so we’ll have to lift material to figure out the cause,” said Surrey fire captain Ed Wells, early Thursday.

Garis said late Thursday that the home was built around 1980 and may have had a separate residential suite added to it.

Investigators have not interviewed anyone from the family yet, he added.

A man who would identify himself only as a family friend was allowed to enter the house to gather a few belongings. He came out carrying the charred remains of what he said were the family “scriptures.” He said he didn’t want to speak “out of respect for the family.”

Another neighbour, Elena Gorlekan, said the house was recently sold and that the new residents keep to themselves. Standing with her young son, across the street, Gorlekan said she was saddened to hear that someone had died so soon after someone had been shot in the area.

‘Horrifying’ blaze kills 1, injures 7 in Surrey

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